Cloth shearing machine



Jul 21; "1931..

0. s. RICHARDSON CLOTH SHEARING. MACHINE s She ats-Sheet 1 Filed, Jan. 30, 1930 II." I! lllllll July 21, 1931. c. a. RICHARDSON CLOTH SHEARING MACHINE Filed, Jan. '30, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1910 71 for Mar/km fliftor'rwy w illlllwri r 111111 ll llllllllll 1| llllll ll emu -1L l Flllllll L all! July 21, 1931. c. G. RICHARDSON 7 1,315,535

CLOTH SHEARING MACHINE Filed Jan. 30, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Invenfor Patented July 21, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE CHARLES G. RICHARDSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, .ASSIGNOR TO PARKS &

WOOLSON MACHINE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMZGNT, A CORPORATION OF 7 VERMONT CLOTH SHEARING MACHINE Application filed January 30,1930. Serial No. 424,556.

dropped shuttle to active position a longitudinal loop of filling is formed along the edge of that portion of the cloth that has been woven in the interim.

When such a piece of cloth is run through the cloth shearing machine many of these loops escape the shearing action, wholly or in part. The present invention provides means for cutting the loops before the cloth reaches the shearing line, so that the severed 59 loose ends of the loops will not fail to be sheared.

One feature of the present invention consists in means by which the loop-carrying cloth edge is presented to the loop cutting blades to ensure complete severance of all the loops, while avoiding danger of cutting the cloth itself. Another feature resides in the use of rotary cutters, preferably with plural blades, which can be revolved with sulficient speed to ensure that no loop will be missed. Another feature resides in the pro vision of means for maintaining proper registry or positioning of the cutter'with relation to the loop-carrying edge of the cloth.

Again provision is made for operating loop cutters against each face of the loop-carrying edge of the cloth and also formoving successive loops in to the path of the'cutter blades.

The cloth is best presented to the cutter by causing it to travel on a steep inclination to and from a cloth rest, over which the cloth is guided to form a-hollow or angular shed. By locating the cutter so that the path of revolution of its cutting edges are in close proximity tothe interior angle formed by the cloth travelling over the cloth rest and in proper relationship to the edge of the cloth, it is possible to cut the loops very rapidly and at the same time avoid severing the cloth,

which would be fatal to the success of the device. The most effective means of securing proper registry between the loop cutter and the edge of thecloth carrying the loops is to mountthe loop cutter on a movable support so that, as the edge of the cloth swerves in or out, the loop cutter follows such movement and thereby retains its most effective cutting position relative to the loops. At the same time, the supporting rest is automatically shifted to further aid in presenting the loops in the best position to be severed by the loop cutter. To more effectively present the loops to the action of the cutter, the cloth is guided so that its extreme edge portion slightly hangs over or beyond the cloth supporting edge of the rest. This results inslackening the loops so that they can move into the path of'the cutter and, such movementmay be further ensured by theruse of any suitable device such for example, as an air blast for moving the successive loops toward the cutter. Theforegoing and other features of this invention will be particularly explained in the following specification and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a construction and arrangement of parts intended to embody the foregoing features of invention and have shown an arrangement by which. the two faces of the loop-carrying cloth edge are successively presented to loop cutters, since the loops may, and often do, overlie opposite faces of the cloth. No attempt has been made toillustrate the entire machine, but only that portion which pertains to the loop cutting device or attachment which is arranged on one side of the cloth shearing machine in advance of the shearing or cropping elements, so that the loops will be severed in order that their loose ends may be cropped or sheared by the shearing elements.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing the forward cloth rest associated with the underneath revolving loop cutter with the upper portion of the second or reverse face loop cutter partly shown beyond it.

Fig. 2 is a detail view illustrating the action of the cutter when severing a loop that is passing over the recessed end of the cloth rest.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the loop cutters and their respective cloth rests showing a portion of the mechanism for maintaining proper positioning between the edge of the cloth, the cloth rest and the loop cutters.

Fig. l is a right hand side elevation of the device "showing the cloth guiding means coordinated with the respective cloth rests and the respective loop cutters for action on opposite faces of the cloth.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of one of the loop cutting elements.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail showing one of the loop cutting blade carrying arms.

Fig. 7 is an isolated view showing, in front elevation, somewhat diagrammatically the driving means for the respective loop cutters.

Fig. 8 shows a modified form of the cloth rest end providing a construction for slackening the float threads.

According to the practice exemplified in the form illustrated in the drawings, I employ a cloth rest 1 extending across the shearing machine some distance in advance of the shearing blades and this transverse cloth rest, on its right hand side, is provided with a rigid extension arm 2, which is secured to one of the side frames 3 of the shearing machine for support. Since the selvage loops are formed on only one side of the cloth, only one side of the shear need be provided with the loop cutter mechanism.

Above the extension arm 2 of the cloth rest, I provide a cloth rest extension member 5, which conforms in its end elevation to the end elevation of the upper part of the cloth supporting rest 1, of which it forms an extension. I prefer, however, that this cloth restextension 5 be made to be automatically adjusted to the line of the cloth. Accordingly, to bridge over the gap between the upper edges of the cloth rest extension 5 and of the fixed portion of the cloth rest- 1 I provide a thin sheet metal trough-like bridge 4 in the form of an inverted trough, whose inner end is secured on the main portion 1 of the cloth rest and whose outer end has exterior telescoping engagement with the movable cloth rest extension 5.

This cloth rest extension 5 is an upward continuation of a plate 6, that is mounted on a transversely movable carriage 10. which also supports the loop cutter. The upper portion of this standard or plate (3 is bevelled off to form a narrow upstanding cloth supporting edge in line with the similar edge of the main cloth rest member 1, and the outer end portion of this cloth rest extension is recessed to form a vertical slot, whose rear side is closed by the removable lip 43 which is fastened to the standard 6 to provide a shallow slot for the travel of the revolving blades of the rotary cutter, as shown in Fig. 3.

This standard 6, which supports the slotted cloth rest extension, is mounted on a transversely movable carriage 10 provided with antifrication rollers 10 travelling on raised track members 2 of the cloth rest arm 2. The track members 2 are surmounted by overhanging plates 2' secured thereto to form holding down ribs engaging the upper sides of the carriage rollers 10 These upper track members or ribs 2" carry horizontal rollers 2 forming lateral engagement with the front and rear faces of the carriage 10, so that this carriage has a very free movement transversely of the shearing machine and consequently transversely of the travel of the cloth.

The rotary cutters may be of any suitable construction but I have here shown a multiple bladed rotary cutter comprising a disclike body 12, to which are secured radiate blade arms 13 whose outer ends are curved in a forward direction of its rotation, to form rounded shoes or runners which are formed to travel in contact with the adjacent face of the cloth but without penetrating the cloth. The forward tip of the runner portion of the blade arm is preferably convexly rounded and extends somewhat in advance of the thin cutting blade 14, which is held in a. slot formed in the outer end of the shoe portion of the blade and is held in place by an adjusting screw 14*. These blades are inclined to the cords of circles defining their paths of revolution so as to produce a drawing cut against each loop that the rounded toe passes under. The whole structure is made quite thin, so that the blades may revolve through the slotted portion of the cloth rest with the extreme outer faces of the runners travelling practically flush with the portion of the cloth passing over the cloth rest extension. As most clearly shown in Fig. 2, the extreme outer end of the cloth rest extension 5 is cut away slightly so that the overhanging edge portion of the cloth, that carries the selvage loops, becomes slackened, thereby permitting the loops to float freely at this point so that the rounded toe portion at the forward edge of the cutter arm and in advance of the cutter blade will pass between the cloth and the loop and guide the loop against the cutting edge of the blade.

To still further assist the positioning of the individual loops I employ an air blast nozzle 20, whose delivery outlet is above the loop severing line and slightly inclined outwardly at its lower end. This air blast tends to force the loops into the path of the revolving cutter blades.

The revolving cutter disc is centrally perforated to receive a flanged arbor 15. the reduced end of which penetrates the center of the cutter disc, which latter is clamped firmly between the flange of the arbor and a flanged nut on the opposite side of the cutter disc. This arbor, in vertical alignment with the cloth edge, carries at its opposite end a grooved sheave or pulley 16, which runs the driving belt 17 that is driven from an underneath motor 18. A tensioning idler 19 is provided to keep the belt taut when the cutter travels a slight distance inward or outward with the movement of the carriage. The cutter arbor is rotatably mounted in a bearing head 21 that is secured to an upstanding lug 22 on top of the carriage 10. The movement of the carriage in and out is not sufficient to interfere with the proper functioning of the driving belt 17 particularly when a tensioning idler is employed.

The object of mounting the cloth rest extension and its associated revolving cutter on a transversely movable carriage is to keep the end of the cloth rest and also the associated loop cutter in proper operating position to the loop-carrying edge portion of the cloth.

Of course, this carriage could be moved by the attendant, or the attendant might guide the cloth properly to maintain proper operative relationship between the cloth supporting rest and the cloth, but in this case I have provided means for automatically maintaining proper constant alignment between the edge of the cloth and the line of loop cutting.

On the middle portion of the cloth rest arm 2 I provide a slideway 2 on which is mounted a reciprocatory rack bar. This rack bar is made double and comprises an upper member 23, having an abrupt face on the right hand side of each tooth, and an inclined face on the left hand side of each tooth, while in the underneath rack bar 24 the teeth are inclined in the reverse direction. In front of this double tooth rack bar, there is pivotally mounted on the carriage 2 a dog or latch 3 25, which is free to oscillate in a horizontal plane. At the opposite ends of this dog 25 are oppositely inclined teeth, the one at the right hand side being arranged to engage the lower rack bar 24;, while the opposite end engages the upper rack bar 23.

This rack bar is constantly reciprocated by means of a pitman connection 26 with a rotary eccentric driver 26. Obviously, when the right hand tooth of the dog 25 is retracted and the left hand tooth thrown into engagement with the upper rack bar 23, the carriage will be forced outward on the outward short movement of the rack bar, while on the other hand when the right hand tooth is thrown into engagement with the lower rack bar, the carriage will be moved inwardly, step by step, through the reciprocation of the rack bar while such engagement continues.

Normally, when the cloth has been thread- 1 ed or drawn through the machine before starting, the cloth rest loop cutter is adjusted so that the extreme loop-carrying edge of the cloth will slightly overhang the recessed or cut away end portion ofthe cloth rest. Since the cutter support and the cloth rest are both secured to the transversely movable carriage and are, therefore, simultaneously adjust-- able, the parts are all properly related to the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to function normally. If, however, the edge portion of the cloth approaching the loop cutter cloth rest swerves outwardly it will engage the pivoted feeler 28, which is supported on a bracket 28 projecting forwardly from the carriage 2, thus swinging the upper serrated end of the pivoted feeler 28 rearwardly in the direction of travel of the cloth and swing ing the lower end in the opposite direction, that is, toward the front of the machine. A connecting rod or link 28 connects the lower end of the feeler with the right hand side of the dog 25. Consequently the drag of the cloth against the feeler, when it swerves outwardly, tends to throw the left hand tooth of the dog into engagement with the rack bar teeth 23, thereby moving the carriage out in the same direction that the cloth swerves. So long as the cloth continues to swerve out, the carriage continues to travel under the influence of the dog and reciprocating rack bar. On the other hand, when the cloth swerves in away from the line of the feeler, or the carriage has been moved out to a position where the feeler is outside the cloth, the feeler no longer acts in the manner described, but is counterbalanced so that its serrated edge moves forward, which results inpushing the ri 'ht hand end of the dog into engagement with the lower rack teeth 2 tand consequently the carriage is moved inward, step by step, through the actuation of the rack bar until the feeler is again engaged and actuated by the cloth.

By the mechanism above described, therefore, the position of the edge of the cloth is ciated loop cutter may be employed and the movable carriage, with its cloth rest extension and cutter, may have the same construction but will be inverted. The two reversely disposed loop cutters may obviously be placed so near together that the same feeler and l rack bar may be employed to actuate both of them simultaneously.

As shown in Fig. 1, an outside bracket 40 extends up from the frame 3 of the machine to an overhead position a short distance be- 1 L hind the line of the first loop cutter and cloth rest. From this upstanding bracket the extension arm 41 of an inverted cloth rest extends transversely and is provided with track members i1, track bars a2 and lateral guide rollers 13 engaging the opposite sides of the transversely movable carriage le, which is supported by rollers 44. i

A connecting bracket 45 extends from the rear upper side of the carriage 10 to the front lower side of the carriage n, so that the two carriages move in unison. The carriage 44 also carries a bearing bracket 21 for the support of the arbor 15 of the rotary cutter 12, which is driven by a sheave 16 and a belt 17 leading to an overhead motor 18 and running over a tension idler 19, precisely as in the case of the drive mechanism for the forward loop cutter.

In advance of the first cloth rest and to the rear of the second cloth rest is arranged a guide roller 11 mounted on a suitable bracket 11 to give the desired steepness of inclination to the cloth as it passes around the cloth rest. This approach of the cloth to, and its departure from, the cloth rest at a steep or oblique angle is advantageous because with this course of travel the extreme edge portion of the cloth which overhangs the straight-edge of the cloth rest allows the overhanging portion, which carries the loops, to become slack, permitting the loops to float into the path of the revolving cutter blades. Furthermore, it forms an angle or shed on whose interior side the cutting blades may be located with most satisfactory results.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a slight modified form of the end of the cloth rest, in which the cloth rest 50 has a convex or half-round contour with the end portions cut away, as shown at 50, thus relaxing the tension on the extreme edge that carries the loops. As the cloth approaches the end of the rest in a steep upward inclination, the interior portion of the cloth follows the convex contour, while the marginal edge portion with the loop threads takes the shorter path along the chords of the convex curve. This construction gives the same horizontal height of the cloth rest to the extreme end and yet re lanes the tension on the extreme edge of the cloth and its loop threads passing over it. Any construction or arrangement of the cloth rest that permits the float loops to become loose or slack as they pass by the rest, instead of being drawn tightly against the rest or against the edge of the cloth will have the manifest advantage of facilitating the movement of the tip of the cutter arm between the cloth and the fioat threads and this may be accomplished in a variety of" ways.

lVhile the loop cutting mechanism that forms the subject matter of this invention is described as incorporated in a cloth shear ing machine of the usual pile-cropping type, and will ordinarily be used in such relationship, nevertheless, it is of course possible to use this loop cutting or shearing attachment as a separate machine, or part of a separate machine, to cut or shear float loops at the edge of the cloth; in fact such a separate machine for cutting or shearing loops may be regarded as itself forming a species of shearing machine, for nothing herein is intended to restrict the invention to use only on the ordinary type of cloth shearing machine.

What I claim is 1. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a cloth rest disposed trans versely of the travel of the cloth and arranged to guide the cloth travelling toward the shearing line into a salient path of travel, a loop cutter mounted to have its cutting edge move across the loop-carrying edge of the cloth in close proximity to the internal angle of said salient and thereby sever the loops.

In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with means disposed transversely of the travel of the cloth for guiding the cloth into a salient path of travel, a loop cutter arranged to have its cutting edge move across the loop-carrying edge of the cloth inside said salient angle of the cloth and in proximity to the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to sever the successive loops as they reach the ape of the salient angle.

In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a cloth rest disposed transversely of the cloth to guide said cloth into a salient path of travel, said cloth rest being provided at the apex of the salient with a slot extending transversely of the travelling cloth, a loop cutter mounted on the interior side of said salient to have its cutting edge move in said slot across the loop-carrying edge of the cloth, thereby severing the loops as they pass over the slot in the cloth rest.

4. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a cloth support extending transversely of the travel of the cloth and arranged to deflect said cloth into a salient path of travel, a rotary loop cutter mounted on the same side of the cloth as said support and having its cutting edges moving across the loop-carrying edge of the cloth in proximity to the apex of said cloth rest.

5. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a cloth rest disposed transversely of the travel of the cloth and arranged to divert the travelling cloth out of a straight line path, said cloth rest having its end portion recessed to slacken the edge portion of the cloth as it travels by said recessed portion, and a loop cutter arranged to have its cutting edge move across the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to sever the [OOPS as the latter pass by the recessed end portion of the cloth rest.

6. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a cloth rest disposed transversely of the travel of the cloth and arranged to divert the travelling cloth out of a straight line of travel, a loop cutter mounted to have its cutting edge move across the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to sever the loops as they pass the cloth rest, and guiding means controlled by the cloth for maintaining proper working relationship between the loop-carrying edge of the cloth, the end of the cloth rest and the loop cutter to ensure the cutting of the loops.

7. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a transverse cloth rest over which the cloth passes on its way to the shearing line, said cloth rest embracing a fixed member and an endwise movable extension, means by which the position of the outer end of the extension is kept in proper relationship to the loop-carrying edge of the cloth passing over it, a loop cutter movable with said extension and arranged to have its cutting edge move across the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to sever the loops overhanging the end of the extension.

8. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a transverse cloth rest, embracing a fixed member and a movable extension thereof, a rotary loop cutter, a transversely movable carriage forming a support for said extension and for said loop cutter, and means controlled by the edge portion of the cloth for causing said carriage to move in or out as the cloth approaching the cloth rest moves in or out, thereby maintaining proper correlation between the loop-carrying edge of the cloth and the said cloth rest extension and cutter. V

9. In a cloth shearing machine, means for supporting the loop-carrying edge portion of the cloth in position to permit the loops to overhang the adjacent edge of the support, and a loop cutter rotatably mounted in a plane transverse to the edge of the cloth, and guiding means by which the proper working relation between the overhanging edge of the cloth and the cutter is maintained.

10. A cloth rest for presenting the loopcarrying edge of the cloth to a loop cutter, embracing a transverse horizontally disposed cloth supporting member having its outer end portion recessed to slacken the extreme loopcarrying edge portion of the cloth and thereby permitting the loops to hang loosely from the edge of the cloth as they pass by the cutter.

11. A cloth support for presenting the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to a loop cutter to facilitate the severing of the loops, embracing a fixed member and an extension member forming a continuation thereof, and movable in and out as the cloth swerves in the same direction to permit the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to overhang the adjacent edge of the cloth support.

12. In a cloth shearing machine, means for presenting the loop-carrying edge of the cloth to a loop cutter, embracing a transversely disposed cloth rest arranged in advance of the shearing line and having its end portion cut away to relax tension on the loop carrying edge off the cloth, and transverse cloth guides arranged in front of and behind said cloth.

rest, respectively, in parallelism therewith but offset therefrom.

13. A loop cutter for a cloth shearing machine, embracing a rotatable member having radial arms terminating in hook-like outer ends whosetips are rounded to allow them to. contact with the face of a piece of cloth without cutting the cloth and having cutting edges on the forward inside edges of the hook portions.

14,-. A rotary loop cutter for a cloth shearing machine, embracing in its construction a series of radiating arms whose outer ends are curved to form forwardly extending book like members with blunt tips, a cutting blade located on the forward side of said arms interiorly of said tips whereby the tip of the revolving arm guides the loop to be out against said cutting edge.

15. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination of transverse cloth rests arranged to engage and support opposite faces of the cloth approaching the shearing line, loop cutters coordinated with the end portions of the respective cloth rests and having cutting edges moving transversely of the edge of the cloth to sever floating loops on opposite faces of the cloth,

16. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a cloth rest arranged to divert the cloth approaching the shearing line out of a straight line path of travel, a loop cutter on the same side of the cloth as the cloth rest having cutting edges revolving in a plane transverse to the edge of the cloth and in line with the peak of the cloth rest, and means adjacent to said cloth rest but on the opposite side of the cloth for moving the loops to be cut outwardly beyond the edge of the cloth as the loops pass by the cloth rest.

17. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a loop cutter moving in a plane transverse to the travel of the cloth across the edge of the cloth, means for presenting the loops on the edge of the cloth in proper position to be severed by the loop cutter, said means including a cloth support on one side of the cloth and an air blast nozzle arranged adjacent thereto on the opposite side of the cloth to direct a blast of air against the loops.

18. In a cloth shearing machine, the com bination of transverse cloth supporting means arranged to cause the main portion of the cloth to travel toward the shearing line under tension while leaving the loop-carrying edge of the cloth in a slack condition. and a loop cutter arranged to have its cutting edge move across the loop-carrying edge portion of the cloth adjacent to said support to engage and sever the loops while in such slackened condition.

19. In a cloth shearing machine, the combination with a cloth rest disposed transversely of the travel of the cloth and arranged to divert the cloth into a salient path of travel, a rotary loop cutter mounted to have its cutting edges move across the loop carrying edge of the cloth to sever the loops as they pass the cloth rest, and means for transversely shifting the cloth edge supporting portion of the cloth rest and the rotary loop cutter to maintain the end of the cloth rest and the rotary cutter in constant operative relation to the loop carrying edge of the cloth.

20. In a shearingmachine, the combination with means for supporting the cloth, of a rotary cutter for severing the loops at the edge of the cloth as the cloth travels across said support, said rotary cutter being rotated about an axis extending lengthwise of the cloth and located in the vertical plane of the loop carrying edge of the cloth.

In Witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

CHARLES G. RICHARDSON. 

